Tetley and Tata Trusts Announce Partnership with Smile Train
MONTVALE, N.J. (September 9, 2016) – Tetley from the house of Tata Global Beverages and Tata Trusts together are contributing $1 million to Smile Train, an international children’s charity with a sustainable approach to cleft care. The donation will be used to help supplement Smile Train’s sustainable model, which provides training and funding to empower local doctors in over 85 developing countries to provide 100 percent-free cleft repair surgery and comprehensive cleft care in their own communities.
Each year, over 170,000 children in the developing world are born with a cleft lip and/or palate deformity. Without the corrective surgery that many families cannot afford, these children often face social isolation, are unable to speak or eat properly and, in some cases, are not allowed to attend school. Cleft repair surgery, however, is simple and the transformation is immediate.
“Smile Train is extremely proud to partner with Tetley and Tata Trusts. This important partnership will help provide new smiles and the opportunity for new lives for 4,000 children with clefts,” said Susannah Schaefer, CEO, Smile Train. “As we expand our efforts in the developing world and build capacity through our sustainable model; we look forward to continuing to change the world one smile at a time with the invaluable support from this partnership.”
To further build on the milestone partnership with Smile Train and the Tetley brand philosophy of ‘spreading moments of warmth,’ Tetley is launching a global digital campaign, “The Tetley Smile Challenge” (www.TetleyUSA.com/SmileChallenge) to raise awareness among consumers about Smile Train and invite their participation. The campaign, which stems from the idea that a smile has transformative power, uses innovative facial recognition software to digitally capture consumers’ smiles as they view humorous and engaging video content.
“Tata Global Beverages’ vision is to create magical beverage moments, and a smile on a child’s face is certainly magical,” said Ajoy Misra, MD & CEO, Tata Global Beverages. “We are very happy to be partnering with Smile Train on this initiative. Tetley is Tata Global Beverages’ largest brand and, through this partnership, we hope to positively impact many thousands of children and bring alive the Tetley brand’s philosophy of spreading moments of warmth. For 175 years, the Tetley brand has brought many a smile to our consumers and, with this partnership, we now have the opportunity to take it beyond the consumer and create positive community impact, as well.”
The Tetley Smile Challenge will be open for consumer participation through October.
For more information about Tetley USA and its partnership with Smile Train, visit TetleyUSA.com and follow the brand on Facebook (@TetleyUSA), Twitter (@TetleyUSA) and Instagram (@TetleyTeaUSA).
About Tetley USA
Tetley has been known as an industry leader in creating a variety of delicious teas since it began producing tea over 170 years ago. Tetley is now part of Tata Global Beverages, which also includes award-winning Eight O’Clock Coffee and Good Earth Tea. Tetley has a long-standing relationship with the Ethical Tea Partnership – an organization that drives change and helps create a thriving global tea sector that is socially just and environmentally sustainable. All Tetley branded tea, including flavored decaffeinated varieties, will also be part of the Rainforest Alliance certification program, which is scheduled for completion by 2016.
About Smile Train
Smile Train is an international children’s charity with a sustainable approach to a single, solvable problem: cleft lip and palate. Millions of children in developing countries with untreated clefts live in isolation, but more importantly, have difficulty eating, breathing and speaking. Cleft repair surgery is simple, and the transformation is immediate. Our sustainable model provides training, funding and resources to empower local doctors in 85+ developing countries to provide 100%-free cleft repair surgery and comprehensive cleft care in their own communities. To learn more about how Smile Train’s sustainable approach means donations have both an immediate and long-term impact, please visit smiletrain.org.
About Tata Global Beverages
Tata Global Beverages is a global beverage business; its brands have presence in over 40 countries. The Company has significant interests in tea, coffee and water and is the world’s second largest tea company. 250 million servings of its brands are consumed everyday around the world. Tata Global Beverages’ annual turnover is US$1.3bn; it employs around 3,000 people across the world. The company focuses on natural beverages and has a stable of innovative regional and global beverage brands, including: Tata Tea, Tetley, Himalayan natural mineral water, Tata Water Plus and Tata Gluco+, Good Earth tea, Grand Coffee and Eight O’clock coffee. For more information please visit www.tataglobalbeverages.com
About Tata Trusts
Tata Trusts is amongst India’s oldest, non-sectarian philanthropic organizations, which has played a pioneering role in enhancing the quality of life of the people and communities it seeks to help. Guided by the principles of its Founder, Jamsetji Tata and through his vision of proactive philanthropy, Tata Trusts catalyze societal development. Transforming itself into a modern philanthropic organization, Tata Trusts has ensured its Initiatives and interventions have a contemporary relevance to the nation through its focus on the areas of education; healthcare and nutrition; rural livelihoods; technology, natural resources management; enhancing civil society and governance, media, arts, crafts and culture. Through collaborations with government bodies, international agencies and like-minded private sector organizations, Tata Trusts has strengthened its contribution to the developmental landscape of the country to nurture a self-sustaining eco-system that collectively works across all these areas. Please visit www.tatatrusts.org for information.
